Where to Find College Admissions Assistance

Getting into the college of your choice can be stressful. No one wants to settle for less, and people are willing to shell out thousands of dollars for personal coaching in preparation for SATs and entrance examinations. To say the least, this is a huge market with a lot of potential, and companies are taking a business approach to help in the matter.

The only problem is that sometimes it can be difficult to find a reliable coach that can practically guarantee you a spot in your favorite college. Oftentimes future college students may be offered attractive training packages and coaching sessions that will help them in taking their first step to reaching their goals. The only question is how to filter out the scams from authentic service offerings?

College Admissions Assistance

One service well-known service is called College Admissions Assistance. It’s not hard at all to find – just go to their website caaconnect.com to register for one of their free seminars. At the seminar, a representative of the company will explain the numerous challenges associated with applying to your first- and second-choice colleges. In truth, you don’t really need to hear about the difficulties from a professional. A quick internet search will yield the results:

Application process and expenses

Supplemental essays

Prioritizing final exams or college applications

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Scholarship offerings

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Estimating total tuition and living costs

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Transitioning from high school to college life

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Academics

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Student organization involvement

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Preparing an undergraduate thesis

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Etc.

Is College Admissions Assistance a Scam?

A popular question that arises every year and every intake is whether the College Admissions Assistance is a scam. First of all, it’s important to understand what CAA offers to their clients.

We talked about how they hold free seminars to attract potential clients, but what you hear in the seminars won’t actually do you any good in the application process. For example, they’ll tell you about the importance of being active in a high school student organization and listing community service activities in your resume, but that’s about all the help they can give you for free.

In order to obtain their assistance, you’ll be asked to sign up for their service. Of course, nothing in this world is free, not even assistance in pursuing your academic ambitions. Unfortunately, their services will cost you upwards of $2,000. If the price tag of their services isn’t a deterrent, then maybe their high-pressure sales pitches are.

According to the Better Business Bureau of Texas, most of the complaints about CAA are made regarding their marketing practices. However, even though CAA obviously has an image problem, their services are, by no means, a scam. If you don’t mind paying thousands of dollars for their one-on-one tutoring services and essay preparation tactics, it might be a great investment for you in reaching the first step to academic success.

Are There Any Alternatives to CAA?

Upon hearing the sticker price for CAA’s services, most people will likely find an exit route from their seminars and look for other alternatives. The question is, of course, where else can you turn to?

The answer is actually quite simple. Requesting more affordable help from college financial aids is a great way to get your finances in order. You should seek guidance before your senior year in high school so you’ll have a great head start in planning your future in college. In a nutshell, parents and students will be advised to prepare their finances in three ways:

Save enough to pay for all college expenses before your child is admitted into a university

Work and pay while your child is undergoing his or her studies at college

Take out loans to help pay for child’s education after he or she graduates

Another way students can prepare for the challenges of applying and being enrolled in a college is by asking for assistance from high school guidance counselors. These counselors don’t just help with high school-related matters, but they serve to guide students who wish to continue their studies at the college level. The best things about going to your high school guidance counselor are that they are knowledgeable about all the risks and benefits of going to college based on your academic transcripts, and their services are free.

However, the only problem with high school guidance counselors is that they have very limited time to assist students. Depending on the size of your high school and the intake rate per year, your guidance counselor will probably deliver the same rehearsed speech hundreds of times throughout a school year to students who want to continue onto college. It’s not that they don’t care about your future, but it’s that they don’t have the resources to give unique advice to each and every student’s unique situations.

Bottom Line

So there you have it. In truth, there are probably an infinite amount of places you can seek guidance prior to enrolling and being admitted into a college. It’s important to keep your grades up, be active in extracurricular activities, and make a polished essay when applying to a university.

However, as your high school graduation date nears, you might feel the need to seek assistance from trained professionals who are in the loop about the different challenges of applying to college. Going to CAA is just one of many places you can find help. One of the only drawbacks of CAA is that you’re going to need to spend copious amounts of money for one-on-one training sessions with said professionals.

You can find other services such as financial planners to help plan how you and your family are going to pay for your college. In general, financial planners are much more affordable, but their knowledge may be somewhat limited concerning the requirements and process of applying to renowned universities.

The last option we discussed in this article is going to your high school guidance counselors. They’re there to help you plan out your college goals and how you’ll make it into college. However, despite having the right answers for every question regarding the application process, their time is extremely limited by the number of students who seek their help.

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Kristy Feldman (Senior Editor)
Kristy studied economics at McGill University and then got her masters in Journalism from UC Berkley.Currently she is a freelance writer focusing on the college ranking and student loan industries.
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Joe is the man that makes the website run. He is also the face of the website with his natural interest in college rankings and student loans. He is the one who answers questions, comments and engages the community around OutstandingColleges.com
Prof. Mike King (Adviser / Contributor)
Mike is a retired college professor and administrator. He knows the admission and college ranking industry inside and out after 30 years in the industry.